TMZ, which appears to have broken the story, cites sources who say an 18-year-old man used the n-word in reference to Kim Kardashian and her relationship to West. It happened outside a chiropractor's office, the site reported.

She apparently phoned West.

When West arrived he allegedly punched the teen, TMZ says.

Police said the rapper was gone when officers arrived to the report of a "battery just occurred."

Police are investigating the matter as a possible misdemeanor assault, we were told. But so far cops are still looking into it via a "follow-up investigation," they said. No case has been forwarded to the District Attorney's office, police said.

L.A. Weekly staff writer Dennis Romero has worked on staff at several magazines and newspapers, including the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Los Angeles Times, where he participated in Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the L.A. riots. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone online, the Guardian, and, as a young stringer, the New York Times.